Practice question · Multiple choice
Drucker distinguished doing things right from doing the right things. Which of Fayol's four functions is most responsible for the second, and why is that the harder one to audit?
Hints
- Ask which function decides what to pursue, and which only check how well it was pursued.
- A dashboard reports on execution. What does it never question?
Show the answer
D. Planning, since a wrong goal pursued flawlessly still fails
Why
Efficiency metrics measure execution against a goal and are silent about the goal itself, so a well-run pursuit of the wrong thing looks like success right up to the end. Controlling closes the loop on the plan, never on whether the plan was worth making, which is why strategy reviews are separate from operational reviews.
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